Brrrrrr

A very cold day where it didn’t get above 3C and felt colder in the wind and snow (which didn’t settle). I went to a nice xmas fair at Pensthorpe, getting there half an hour before the official start and whizzing round in 45 min. G spotted me there and said hello, not sure how she recognised me as I was completely covered up for the elements with only my glasses visible! They were parking us in a field with access in and out through a single gate. Unsurprisingly given the rain we’ve had recently, the ground by the gate was completely churned up when I left and it took me three attempts to get through it as my wheels were spinning. This afternoon I watched The US vs Billie Holiday, with a great performance by Andra Day. I hadn’t realised how much risk Billie took in singing Strange Fruit at her concerts, a shocking song which must be the most powerful protest song ever. I was astonished to find out that the US has yet to pass an anti lynching bill. 

Day 622 / Day 133 of Step 4 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
It was clarified today that mask wearing in shops and on public transport will be mandatory from Tuesday (why has that been so complicated for Boris and Sajid to communicate and why not in cinemas / theatres etc?). Taking a PCR test and self isolating when entering the UK, comes into force at 4am on Tues. A 3rd person has been id with the variant, they are no longer in the UK, and more are expected in the next few days. Australia has id 2 Omicron cases, Denmark 2 and the Netherlands has id 13 cases (in passengers on 2 flights from South Africa earlier in the week where c10% of the 600 passengers were Covid positive). Israel is banning entry to all foreign nationals. The South African doctor who first raised the alarm, said she noticed a change in symptoms which were milder with no cough and a lot of tiredness and large spread in their contacts (NB the popn of SA is of a much younger age profile than the UK).